Ballast-dressing mechanism.



No; 695,530. P-at'ante d Mar'. 18, I902.

v. aznronu.

BALLAST DRESSING MECHANISM.

(Application fi led Jun. 10, 1001.)

I (No Mudel.)

Whnesse's: r I rlnvenror THE NORRIS PETERS CO. Puo'r-Ln'ua. wAsHmofoN, o. c

@Morneys I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VICTOR BERFORD, OF TARA, CANADA.

BALLAST-DRESSING MECHANISM.

SPECIFICATION forming art of Letters Patent No. 695,530, dated March 18, 1902.

' Application at June 1o,19o1.= Serial No. 63,858- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VICTOR BERFORD, a subject of His Majesty the King of Great Britain,

residing at Tara,,county of Bruce, Province 7 application for United States Letters-Patent filed November 23, 1900, Serial No. 37,318.

The primary object of the'present invention is to provide means for uniformly spreading the ballast on the slope or shoulder of a railway track following the operation of destroying weeds and other vegetable growths thereon.

A further object is to provide means for scraping or removing from the track-ties any of the ballast which may escape from the primary rake device of the ballast-dresser.

A further object is to provide means by which the tie scraper or rake is held yieldably in place by the resistance of the work, so that it may automatically give when it encounters an extra long tie of the track, thus minimizing injury to the appliance and insuring the automatic return of the'parts to their normal working positions. U v

To the accomplishment of these ends the invention consists in'the novel combination, construction, and arrangement of parts,which will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure l is a perspective view of a railway-track appliance,

including as one of the'features thereof a ballast-dressing mechanism embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail plan view of the ballast-dressing mechanism on an enlarged scale and showing a part of the slope-dresser rake broken away. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the ballast-dressing mechanism and arranged to more clearly illustrate the equalizer mechanism which connects the slope-dresser rake and the tiedresser rake operatively together.

The same numerals and letters of reference 5 5 denote corresponding parts in each of'the several figures of the drawings.

A designates the wheeled carriage, which supports the hanger a, adapted to support the beam or carrier b. The weed-destroying mech- 6o anism B has a suitable. framework 0, connected hingedly at d to the carrier, whereby the framework has foldable connection withv the carriage A, so that the operating devices may be adjusted out of position or said framework may be lowered to a substantially horizontal position in order to place the operating devices in condition for service. The sodline cutter mechanism 0 is'disposed beyond 'the weed-destroying mechanism B; but as 70.

these two mechanisms are not claimed in this application I do not consider that it is necessary to more fully describe them, because they constitute the subjects-matter of other applications filed by me of even date here with.

The weed destroying mechanism B includes a gang of subsoil hoes or blades, which are arranged to operate beneath the surface of the ballast forming the shoulder or slope .80 of the railway-track. This subsoil operation of the gang of weeding-hoes. serves to thoroughly destroy the weeds and the roots that may grow on the slope of the track; but of course the passage of the weeding mechanism disturbs the condition of the ballast. To overcome this objection and to restore the ballast to a smoothly-dressed condition, I have devised the slope-dresser rake 5, which is arranged to follow in rear of the weed-cut- 9o ter mechanism. Said rake 5 is disposed at an angle to the track, and the outer front end 1 of this rake is provided with an upstanding shank 6, the same being received slidably in an eye 7, that is formed at the rear extremity of a carrier-bar 8. This shank is adapted to be fastened adj ustably to the carrier-bar by means of the set-screw 9, the latter adapted to be slackened, so as to permit the shank to be raised or lowered, and thereby adjust the loo outer end of the slope-dresser rake 5 vertically. The inner rear portion of the inclined .rake 5 is suitably connected with the general framework of the railway appliance; but in the present invention I prefer to employ a tie-dresser rake 10 and an equalizer mechanism which serves to operatively connect the tie-dresser rake with the slope-dresser rake 5, whereby the pressure or resistance of the ballast against said rake 5 serves to hold the tie-dresser rake 10 in its operative relation to the inner end of said rake 5.

The operation of the rake 5 on the ballast at the slope or shoulder of a track quite frequently carries a surplus loose charge of ballast in front of the same, which gradually works upwardly and inwardly toward the track, so that it is finally left upon the ties, because it escapes beyond the inner rear end of said rake 5. To overcome this objection, to effectually remove the surplus ballast from the ties, and to spread this surplus ballast uniformly over the inclined slope or shoulder, I have devised the rake 10 and the equalizer mechanism. Said rake 10 is short as compared with the slope-dresser rake 5, which is arranged in rear of said rake 5 at the inner end thereof, and is preferably inclined in an opposite direction to the rake 5, so that one rake will have an overlapping relation to the other rake. The outer end of the tie-dresser rake is provided with a socket-plate 11, to which is loosely connected one end of the bent link 12, the other end of which is fastened to a socket-plate 13, that is secured to the rear face of the slope-dresser rake 5.

I will now proceed to describe the equalizer 1nechanism,which is formed by a train of connections in order to transmit the pressure or resistance of the ballast against the slope-dresser rake 5to the tie-dresser rake 10, so as to maintain the latter normally and yield-ably in operative relation. A short prime lever 14 is fulcrumed, as at 14, to the inner end of the slope-dresser rake 5, (see Fig. 2,) and to one end portion of this prime leveris pivoted one end of the connecting-rod 16, the other conmeeting-rod, 15, being fastened to the rake 5. These rods 15 16 have adjustable connection with a secondary lever 17, that is fulcrumed, as at 18, on a short arm 19, adapted to be made fast with the bar of the hinged framework that is associated with the wheeled carriage A. It-will be observed by reference to Fig. 2 that the prime lever 14 is mounted directly upon the rake 5, that one end of this rake is connected by the rod 15 to one end of the secondary lever 17, and that the other end of this secondary lever is connected by the rod 16 to the other end of the prime lever 14, and that any movement of the slopedresser rake due to the pressure or resistance of the ballast will be transmitted through the rods and the secondary lever, so as to move the prime level-'14 on its fulcrum 14. This motion of the prime lever is transmitted by the link 20 to the inner end of the tie-dresser rake 10, because said link has a loose connection with the prime lever 14 atapoint between its fulcrum 14 and the attachment of the connecting-rod 16, the other end of said link 20 having a pivotal connection with a socket-plate 21, that is secured firmly to the inner portion of the rake 10.

Each connecting-rod 15 or 16 of the equalizer mechanism is made extensible-that is to say, each rod consists of two members disposed in overlapping relation and clamped together bya coupling band or sleeve 22, the same having a clamping-screw 23, which is adapted to impinge one of the rod members and which serves in connection with the sleeve to unite said rod members adjustably together. It is evident that the rod 15 may be lengthened or shortened in order to vary the angle of the slope-dresser rake 5 to the track; furthermore, that the connecting-rod 16 may be lengthened or shortened, so as to change the angle of the tie-dresser rake to the other rake 5, and that the adjustment of these rods 16 may take place independently, so as to make the rakes 5 1O assume their proper positions.

Each rake is shown by the drawings as consisting of a metallic bar or plate having a straight continuous lower edge; but the style of the rake may be modified as desired by the skilled constructor.

The rakes of the dresser mechanism are held in place by the inertia of a pressure-weight 24, the same being secured to an arm 25, that is attached by the clips 26 to one of the conmeeting-rods, preferably therod 15. i This weighted dresser mechanism has a suspension-chain 27 connected to the rod 15, and the upper portion of this chain is connected to a finger 28, that is firmly secured to the rear end of a suspension-bar 29, the latter being fitted in the swiveled yoke 30, which is provided on the carriage A and is free to turn in a horizontal plane.

The arrangement of the dresser-rake 10 at and in rear of the inner end of the slopedresser rake 5 makes the first-named rake 1O operate over the ends of the ties, which project beyond one of the track-rails, and this rake 10 is held to its working condition by the equalizer mechanism,which transmits the resistance or pressure that is exerted by the ballast against the front face of the slope dresser rake 5, whereby said rake 10 is adapted to sweep the ballast away from the ties of the track and to discharge the same upon the slope or shoulder of the track. It sometimes happens, however, that this dresser-rake 10 encounters the projecting end of a long tie; but the pivotal connection of the rake 10 by means of the links 11 with the rake 5 and with the equalizer mechanism serves to yieldably retain said rake 10 in its operative position, thus allowing the rake 10 when it strikes an obstruction to move outward and in rear of the rake 5 and generally in a direction away from the track. This outward movement of the rake 10 takes place in opposition to the pressure ofthe ballast against the rake 5, and immediately after the rake 10 clears the obstruction it is automatically returned to its working position by the equalizer mechanism, owing to the pressure of the ballast against the rake 5.

The entire group of operating mechanisms which are connected to the framework is adapted to have a foldable relation to the carriage A, because the framework has ahingedto be limited to the precise form of all the,

parts as shown, reservingithe right to vary therefrom. 1

Having thus described I claim as new is 1. In an apparatus of the class described,

the combination with a car,of a suitable frame-.-

work extendingoutwardly from thecar, Weed-, destroying devices mounted on the framework, aud a ballast-dresser mechanism trailing after the weed-destroying devices andconnected with said framework, substantially as set forth. 7 I

2. In an'apparatus of the class described,

the-combination with acar,of a suitable framework connected therewith, a gang of .weed-' destroying devices supported by the-frame;

work, and a dresser-rake arranged to trailin rearof said weed-destroyin g devices and 'of the framework and disposed in a rearwardly and inwardly inclined position with relation to said car, substantiallyasset forth.

3. In an apparatus of the class described;

the combination with a car, and asuitable framework connected therewith, of weed-destroying devices supported by the framework, an inclined rake arrangedto traverse the facel of the slope or shoulder of a track and to trail after said weed-destroying devices, means adj ustably connecting the outer end of said rake; tothe framework,-and independent devices connecting the'in-ner end of saidrake to the framework, substantially as set forth.

In an apparatus of the class described,- the combination-with. a carriage and a suit;

able framework connected therewith, of a b,al-, last-dressing rake arranged totraversethe slope or shoulder of a track, a shank adjustably connecting said rake and said frame: work, and. anextensible rod connecting the inner portion of the rake and the framework, substantially asset forth;

5. In an apparatus of;the class described,

thecombinationwith acarriage and asuit A able framework connected therewith, of a the combination with asuitableframework,

- slope-dresser. rake, a tie-dresser rake disposed my invention, what dresser rake and to said prime lever,

the combination with a slope dresser rake of a tie-dresser rake disposed in rear thereof, and means for yieldably holding said .tiedresser rake in its operative relation to the slope-dresser rake, substantially as set forth.

7. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination with a slope-dresser rake, of a tie-dresser rake disposed in a reversely-inclined position totheslope-dresserrake,andan equalizer mechanism between the two rakes, whereby the tie-dresser rake is held yieldably in its operative position bytpressure against the slope-dresser rake, substantially as set forth.

8. In an apparatus of the class described,

the combination with a slope-dresser rake and a suitable framework, of a tie-dresser rake disposed in rear of and in inclined relation-to the slope-dresser rake, and an equalizer mechanism having operative connection withthe framework and the two rakes, for the purposes described, substantially as set forth.

-9. In an apparatusof the class described,--.

the combination'with a framework, of a slopedresser rake attached at one end to the frame,-

work, an equalizer mechanism connecting the other end of said slope-dresser rake with the framework, and a'tie-dresser rake having its end portions connected with the slope-dresser 10. In an apparatusofthe class described,

the combination with a suitable framework,

of a dresser-rake connected at oneendthereto, the prime and secondary leversconnectedgto;

the dresserrrake, and th'eframework respectively, rods connecting saidlevers, and a ;;t ife,-

dresser'rake yieldably connectedto the slope-:

substantiallyias set forth. I

l1. In an apparatus of ,the'class described, the combination witha carriage and EL-Suit? able framework," of .-a slope dresserrake con: nected with theframework, a tie-dresser;rake: in rear of the slope;dresser rake,- conuections too between the two rakes to holdoneinplace by the resistance encountered by the .other, and a suspension-barwmounted on the carriage and:

having an voperative connection witha part of theballast-dressing-mechanism,substantiallyasset forth.

12. In'an apparatus of the classdescribed,

the combination witha;,suitable. frameworkand a carriage, of a, ballast-dressingmechane ism connected with saidzcarriage, aweighted last-dressing mechanism, substantially as set forth.

13. .In an apparatus of .therclass "described,

of a slope-dresser rake connected at one end with the framework, a prime lever 'fulcrumed at the other end ofthe, dresser-rake, a secondary lever fulcrumedon the-framework, an extensible rod between said slope-dresser rake In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my and said secondary lever, another extensible hand in the presence of two witnesses.

rod between the prime and secondary levers 1 4 a tie-dresser rake having a yieldable connec: V101 OR BERFORD tion with the slope-dresser rake, and a link \Vitnesses:

connecting said tiedresser rake with the T. F. SMITH, prime lever, substantially as set forth. 0. E. START. 

